What If
by goalkeeper96
Summary: What if Brennan had not been shot, and had a chance to come home to her family that night? Set during "A Shot in the Dark" one shot!


A/N: So I thought of this after watching the sneak peak for next week's Bones. I can't wait for the episode, and I wanted to do a "what if" fanfic.

Brennan opened and closed the door quietly. It was around 2:00 A.M, and she knew her baby girl would be fast asleep. As she walked up the stairs, she hoped that Booth would be asleep. She didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted to be wrapped up in his strong arms, not worrying about anything; just sleeping soundly. She went to check on her daughter quickly before retiring to her room. When she saw her sweet daughter sleeping heavily, she smiled. She'd missed her baby girl while she was at the lab. She wanted to hold her, but didn't want to wake her up; so she placed a light kiss on her forehead and whispered quietly.

"I love you" She said.

She knew that her daughter could not hear her, and even if she could, she couldn't make sense of the words, but she wanted to tell her anyway, because it was true. She had felt alone as soon as she exited her home, and had continued to feel that way as she worked. But when she came into her daughter's room, and saw her beautiful face, she knew she wasn't alone.

Walking towards her and Booth's room, she dreaded the conversation that she and Booth would have. She knew he was right. She wasn't oblivious to her hyper-rationality. She wished that she could be like everyone else and not question and test everything, but that was who she was.

Opening the door quietly, she saw Booth, sound asleep, with one of her books sprawled over his chest. She walked over to him and lightly touched his cheek. "Booth?" She said lightly, picking the book up from his chest.

He opened his eyes and groaned at the pain coming from his back.

"You should lie down so your back does not become stiff from your upright position." She said, placing the book on his nightstand.

"Too late." He said bitterly, cracking his back.

She didn't respond, but grabbed a pair of pajamas and went into the bathroom. This was not a usual thing. The two always changed in front of each other. They were not shy people, and did not feel self-conscious with one another. As she came back in, she placed her dirty clothes into the basket, and sat on her side of the bed, facing away from Booth.

"Bones…" He began.

She didn't say anything, so he tried again. "Bones…" He urged.

He, again, got no response, but saw her body take a quick breath, and heard a quiet sob. He sat up and moved over to where she was. "Oh, baby, please don't cry. I'm so sorry about tonight. I know you have reasons for doing what you do. I'm sorry I said those things to you. You are a wonderful mother, and I want you to know that." He said, touching her cheek and brushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm not." She said quietly. "I'm not, Booth."

"Sure you are, Bones." He said.

She shook her head. "I try. I really do. I try to be a good mother, and I try to be a normal mother, but sometimes… Booth, sometimes I can't control the way that I think. I'm not hyper rational on purpose. It's just who I am."

Booth shook his head, mentally kicking himself for yelling at her earlier. "Bones, you are not a bad mother. Sometimes, maybe you do things that other mothers don't do, but your intentions are always good. You want what's best for our baby girl. I know you're different, and I love that about you. I shouldn't have yelled at you for that. You're my partner, and I fell in love with you that way you are, and I'll love you even when you make me crazy." He said.

She looked up at him, tears soaking her face, and sighed. "I'm sorry that I'm hard to be with sometimes, or all of the time, but I want you to know that I love you and Christine very much. Please don't ever doubt that. And I don't want Christine to grow up like me. Yes, I want her to be intelligent, but I want her to have your heart. I want her to be humble, and loving, and caring. Just like you. Regardless, I will love her, but I want her to be like you, because when a person has traits such as mine, they make it quite difficult for love to reach them. "

Booth kissed her forehead. "It's not difficult to love you. I've loved you for eight years. What was hard was trying not to love you." He said quietly.

Her body shook with a light sob, and he took her into his arms and fell to the bed. It looked much like a scene from many years ago when their love had begun, but this night had very different circumstances.

After a few minutes, Booth asked, "What are you thinking about, Bones?"

She sighed, "I find that I am missing my mother very much right now. I wish that I could call her and ask her what to do, but I can't. I want her to help me be a better mother, but I can't because she is dead.

Booth's heart broke at the words, and stroked her back. "She'd be proud of you, Temperance. She is proud of you. I know you don't believe it, but she's looking down on you."

She shook her head. "That is impossible, but I wish it were true." She said.

Booth decided not to argue, for her sake, and pulled her more closely. "Well, I'm right here and I am so proud of you. You've grown so much from the person I met nine years ago. So if you don't believe that your mother is somewhere proud of you, then believe me that I am." He said.

She looked up at him and kissed him lightly. "I love you so much, Booth. I want you to know that. I'll try to remind you every day, because I do, Booth."

He smiled. "I'll love you forever, Bones. Even if you don't believe in forever."

"I believe in our forever, Booth. In the sense that Christine, and maybe out future children, will fall in love with someone and have children and our grandchildren will have grandchildren. And so on. Our love will be on this earth forever, or so I hope it will." She said.

"Oh, Bones, it means everything to hear you say that. I want that too." He said.

"I love you, Booth." She said quietly.

"I love you Bones. Forever."

A/N: Okay, so maybe slightly OOC, but I just really wanted to make this! Let me know what you think! XOXO- Mary


End file.
